Monday, November 28, 2011

Double recipe fun this week! Chicken and Dumplings and more!

This week I am sharing another great comfort food...chicken and dumplings! This is an EASY recipe, which makes it even better! Not to mention how delicious it is. There is just something about tender chicken made in a crock pot, I love it. Feel free to make it your own by adding peas, carrots, mushrooms, whatever you would like!

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about a pound and a half)
2 Tbsp butter
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
1 onion, diced
1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
4 refrigerated biscuits (I used the flaky layer type)
Place chicken in crock pot, and add the butter. Pour in the chicken soup and broth. Dice up the onion, and add to the pot, along with the parsley.

Cook on high 4-6 hours. When chicken is tender, break it up into pieces (I removed each breast and shredded it on a plate, then put it back in the crock). Now it is dumpling time! Cut each biscuit up into 9 pieces, and stir them into the pot. Cook for another half hour on high. You can also add additional chicken broth at this point to get the thickness you desire with this dish. Enjoy!




This week, we have a bonus recipe!!! Congratulations to Kevin Honahan, winner of Rural Route 1 Popcorn's Wild Game Recipe Contest! Way to go!

THAT'S A CROCK OF BUCK!

2 pounds of venison steak or roast

1 Can Golden Mushroom Soup

1 Small can of mushrooms

3 Carrots Sliced

1 Large Onion Chopped

1 Cup water

4 Small Potatoes Skinned and Quartered

¼ Teaspoon of Pepper

Put all ingredients into a crock pot and cook on high 5 to 6 hours.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole



With Thanksgiving this week, and Christmas just a month after that, I thought I would share a crock pot recipe that will help you if you have to feed breakfast to some company staying with you during the holidays. That's right, breakfast! In the crock pot! Amazing! Or this would also work for a holiday brunch you may be having or attending. Now, the recipe in itself isn't anything mind-blowing, it is pretty basic ingredients, but the fact that it is ready when you wake up, and that people can help themselves on their own (sometime hectic) holiday morning schedule, is the great thing about it. Be warned that you will smell this in the middle of the night whenever you wake in bed, if you choose to cook on low overnight. It smells great, but I think it made my body wake up earlier than I wanted to on a weekend morning! Haha!

Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

Cooking spray
1 - 30oz package frozen shredded hashbrowns
12 eggs, whisked
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp seasoning salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb. COOKED sausages, cut up or ground up (I used ground turkey breakfast sausage, or you can use traditional sausage links or patties) OR leftover ham, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced

Use a 6 quart slow cooker. Spray the inside of the stoneware with cooking spray (don't forget to do that!). Dump in the whole package of shredded hash browns, breaking up any clumps. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, then add seasonings, meat, cheese and veggies. Pour everything on top of the hasbrowns in the pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3-4. The casserole is done when the eggs are fully cooked and the edges start to brown a bit.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

This week, I decided to bring a beef recipe into the mix! One of the best things I like about using a slow cooker, is the great comfort foods you can create. Beef Stroganoff is one of those dishes to me. Nothing better than meat and cream cheese combined together, right? This recipe has just a few ingredients too, which is also a plus! This can be served over noodles (which is my favorite), rice, or even mashed potatoes. Leftovers heat up well too.

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

2 cans Golden Mushroom Soup

1 large onion, diced

1/2 cup water

3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

2 pounds cubed stew meat

1 - 8oz brick cream cheese

In the slow cooker, combine all the ingredients, except the meat AND the cream cheese. Then add the meat and mix together.

Cook on Low for 8 hours. Cut up the cream cheese into cubes just before serving and turn crockpot on high. Stir the cream cheese in until all combined. You might have to put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes. Serve over egg noodles, or whatever else you think it would be tasty on top of!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Penne



This week's recipe is not one of my tried and true recipes, this is a new one! I got it last week from a friend on Facebook, and thought that it sounded so delicious, that I simply had to try it ASAP. So I threw it in my pot this weekend, and it is so tasty. My husband LOVED it. It is a bit of an untraditional crock pot recipe, and it does have a bit of a kick to it. But there is enough "cooling" ingredients to bring the kick down a bit. And you can control the hotness of it by what wing sauce you choose to use. I used Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce. To cut some fat, I used light sour cream and light ranch dressing, worked fine. I also didn't put any salt in. My 2 year old gobbled it up, so if he can handle the heat, you know it isn't THAT bad! This one is great for football Sundays.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Penne

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb, thawed and chopped bite size)
1 medium onion (chopped finely)
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
3/4 cup Buffalo Wing Sauce
1/2 cup Ranch Dressing
1 cup Sour Cream
1/8 tsp of Salt
1/2 to 1 tsp of Black Pepper (to taste)
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1 lb. Penne Pasta (cooked)

Use a 5-quart slow cooker. I used my 7 quart, and I shouldn't have, things got a bit burned along the edges. Place in the chopped up chicken and diced onion. Mix together the cream of chicken soup, buffalo wing sauce, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken and onion. Stir. Cook on low for 7 hours.

Once 7 hours is up... start to boil water for the pasta. At this point add the sour cream, cheese and ranch dressing to the slow cooker. Mix well. Continue to cook on low while the pasta cooks.

When the pasta is al dente. Drain. Mix into the buffalo chicken sauce. Let stand 5 minutes. Enjoy on it's own or with a few slices of garlic bread!